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The Steve Laube Agency

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Home » Bestsellers

Bestsellers

Bestselling Books of 2003

By Dan Balowon July 3, 2018
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Another in a twice-yearly offering looking back at a certain year and its bestselling books. There’s no better way to get an idea where we are now than looking back to see from whence we came. Fifteen years ago this week:

New York Times Bestseller List, July 6, 2003

Fiction

  1. THE DA VINCI CODE, by Dan Brown. (Doubleday) Mega-selling book which became a blockbuster film in 2006 starring Tom Hanks with weird hair.
  2. THE LAKE HOUSE, by James Patterson. (Little, Brown) A 2006 film starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.
  3. WHITE DEATH, by Clive Cussler with Paul Kemprecos. (Putnam)
  4. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, by Lauren Weisberger. (Doubleday) Film released in 2006 starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
  5. THE LOVELY BONES, by Alice Sebold. (Little, Brown) Film released in 2009.
  6. THE FACE, by Dean Koontz. (Bantam)
  7. DIE IN PLAIN SIGHT, by Elizabeth Lowell. (Morrow)
  8. THE GUARDIAN, by Nicholas Sparks. (Warner)
  9. THE KING OF TORTS, by John Grisham. (Doubleday)
  10. THE DOGS OF BABEL, by Carolyn Parkhurst. (Little, Brown)
  11. NAKED PREY, by John Sandford. (Putnam) Fourteenth book in the “prey” series by Sandford. In April 2018, book #28 released.
  12. ARMAGEDDON, by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. (Tyndale) The 11th volume of the “Left Behind” series.
  13. FLIRTING WITH PETE, by Barbara Delinsky. (Scribner)
  14. THE SINISTER PIG, by Tony Hillerman. (HarperCollins)
  15. DEAD RINGER, by Lisa Scottoline. (HarperCollins)

Nonfiction

  1. LIVING HISTORY, by Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Simon & Schuster)
  2. A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING, by Bill Bryson. (Broadway)
  3. MONEYBALL, by Michael Lewis. (Norton) Classic baseball book. Film starring Brad Pitt released in 2011.
  4. BEYOND BELIEF, by Elaine Pagels. (Random House) Author of “The Gnostic Gospels.”
  5. AN UNFINISHED LIFE, by Robert Dallek. (Little, Brown) A biography of John F. Kennedy.
  6. WHO’S YOUR CADDY? by Rick Reilly. (Doubleday) A sportswriter recounts his experiences caddying for famous people.
  7. THE TEAMMATES, by David Halberstam. (Hyperion) Baseball book focused on the Boston Red Sox in the 1940’s.
  8. OPEN, by John Feinstein. (Little, Brown) Book about golf.
  9. DERELICTION OF DUTY, by Robert (Buzz) Patterson. (Regnery) A retired Air Force colonel tell-all from his time in the Clinton White House.
  10. CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR, by George Crile. (Atlantic Monthly) Political intrigue in the 80’s made into a 2007 film starring Tom Hanks with a better haircut.
  11. OFF WITH THEIR HEADS, by Dick Morris. (ReganBooks/HarperCollins) Former White House insider.
  12. LEAP OF FAITH, by Queen Noor. (Miramax) An autobiography by the widow of King Hussein of Jordan.
  13. A PATRIOT’S HANDBOOK, selected by Caroline Kennedy. (Hyperion) Essays, letters, speeches, poems and song lyrics about America.
  14. REEFER MADNESS, by Eric Schlosser. (Houghton Mifflin) A study of society’s dark side.
  15. THE CLINTON WARS, by Sidney Blumenthal. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) Political memoir by a senior adviser to President Clinton.

Best Selling and other significant nonfiction Christian books in 2003 included:

Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller
Beauty for Ashes, Joyce Meyer
The Servant Leader, Ken Blanchard
Point Man, Steve Farrar
I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Joshua Harris
Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper
Something Beautiful for God, Malcom Muggeridge
Max Lucado, several titles

Christian novelists doing well in 2003 included:

Lynn Austin
Terri Blackstock
Robin Jones Gunn
Liz Curtis Higgs
Jerry Jenkins & Tim LaHaye
Karen Kingsbury
Beverly Lewis
Janette Oke
Frank Peretti
Tracie Peterson
Francine Rivers
Bodie & Brock Thoene

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Category: Publishing HistoryTag: bestseller list, Bestsellers, Publishing History

1993: A Good Year for Books

By Dan Balowon January 9, 2018
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Today we take a glimpse at early 1993 and the books defining culture and thought twenty-five years ago. It’s impossible to know where you are going if you don’t know from where you came…in life or publishing! The January 3, 1993 New York Times Bestseller List: Fiction DOLORES CLAIBORNE, by Stephen King. (Viking) A 1995 film starring Kathy Bates and a 2013 opera…yes, an opera. MIXED BLESSINGS, by …

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Category: Publishing HistoryTag: Bestsellers, Publishing History

Bestsellers in 1982

By Dan Balowon June 27, 2017
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Continuing my twice-yearly focus on bestsellers from years gone by, today we stop the “way-back” machine thirty-five years ago. The New York Times Bestseller lists from June 27, 1982: Fiction The Parsifal Mosaic, by Robert Ludlum. (Spy novel with possible film being recently discussed, thirty-five years later!) The Man From St. Petersburg, by Ken Follett. (A pre-WWI thriller.) The Prodigal …

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Category: Book Business, Book Review, Publishing HistoryTag: Bestsellers, Book Business, Publishing History

The Bestseller Code: Decoded

By Steve Laubeon September 26, 2016
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Last week, to great fanfare, a new book analyzing bestselling books hit the market. In my opinion, The Bestseller Code: The Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel by Jodie Archer and Matthew L. Jockers is intriguing and provocative, but ultimately an exercise in futility. Every author wants a short cut to achieve bestseller success. What if there is an algorithm that, if followed, will produce a …

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Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Branding, MarketingTag: Bestsellers, Book Business

The Best Selling Christian Books of all Time

By Dan Balowon June 28, 2016
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I realize attempting to compile a list like this could ruffle some feathers from both publishing and literature purists, not to mention the theological issues raised in the process of determining a “Christian” book. But I thought I would take a stab at it anyway. The list of the best-selling Christian books of all time almost demands every single title carry some sort of disclaimer, but that …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing History, TrendsTag: Bestsellers, Book Business, Trends

Best Selling Books Sixty Years Ago

By Dan Balowon January 12, 2016
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Continuing my early 2016 focus on sixty years ago, today we will look back at the New York Times bestseller list for January 15, 1956. Fiction ANDERSONVILLE, by MacKinlay Kantor (Won the Pulitzer Prize for 1956) MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR, by Herman Wouk (Made into a 1958 film with Gene Kelly and Natalie Wood) AUNTIE MAME, by Patrick Dennis (Made into a 1958 film with Rosalind Russell playing the lead. …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing History, TrendsTag: Bestsellers, Book Business, Trends

Rejection and Listening to the Right Voice

By Karen Ballon September 9, 2015
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I love hearing about surprise best-sellers. Those books that no one thought would sell, that the pros in publishing turned down, and that then went on to become bestsellers. Even classics. Anyone who has been in publishing for a considerable time has his or her story. The book we turned down. The one that went on to take the best-seller list by storm. Some surprise hits were published to fill an …

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Category: Get Published, RejectionTag: Bestsellers, perseverance, Rejection

Bestsellers Twenty Years Ago

By Dan Balowon June 30, 2015
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Twice each year, I take this space on the agency blog and make a trip down memory lane to see what books were selling many years ago. If you understand from where books have come, you can understand where books are going. Below is the New York Times bestseller list from July 2, 1995 and the Christian Booksellers Association list from July, 1995. A lot has happened in twenty years. NOTE: Check out …

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Category: Book Business, TrendsTag: Bestsellers, Trends

Bestsellers Thirty Years Ago

By Dan Balowon January 6, 2015
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We hop back into our “way-back machine” for our twice yearly trip to the past and see what books were selling before I started losing my hair and life was comparatively simple. January 6, 1985…thirty years ago today, here are the New York Times bestseller lists: Fiction The Talisman, by Stephen King and Peter Straub. (Viking) The Sicilian, by Mario Puzo. (Linden Press/ Simon & Schuster) Love …

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Category: Book Business, The Publishing LifeTag: Bestsellers

Bestselling Books in 1974

By Dan Balowon July 1, 2014
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Starting today, and every six months, we are going to take a ride in the “way-back” machine (with special acknowledgment to Mr. Peabody and Sherman), traveling back in time to grab a snapshot of what books were selling on a particular date and year. To get an idea where publishing is today, it’s good to get an idea where we have been. Forty years ago this week, half-way through 1974 here were the …

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Category: Book Business, Dan, TrendsTag: Bestsellers, Books, Trends
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